A U.S. pedagogic institution provides the web-based curriculum for most subjects. Our students are required to have a laptop computer to use in class as well as to complete their homework assignments. By default this serves another noble purpose as well; minimizing our footprint on the local environment through the reduction of paper materials.

2. Seminar-Based Collaboration

The core of our learning program is the student participation in conference table discussions about curriculum in the classroom. This peer-to-peer Socratic method is what sets Harkness apart from other schools in México. The students regularly partake in one-hour group discussions over an array of topics that both supplement and expand on web-based and instructor-led materials.

These discussions can become intense (!), so the role of teacher becomes that of a facilitator, as the students drive the learning process. In this setting, the single most valuable learning tool is the student himself. Critical thinking and presentation skills are constantly honed; collaborative ideas developed as thoughts are offered and debated. Respect for differing ideas and thoughtful, objective analysis become de facto character traits in all of our students, as topics ranging from classical literature to even the math sciences all become fodder for intellectual scrutiny.

Students get a much better grasp on why they are doing what they are doing... The net result is students reach learning objectives by approaching new material with enhanced understanding and in a manner that they feel works best for them. This format has been used with remarkable results by the leading private schools in the United States.

3. “Hands-On” Experience

Further subject comprehension is then embedded through projects such as presentations, field studies, robot building, art projects, even environmental action. As an example, one week every year our students participate in a “turtle camp”; working on the beach to preserve nesting areas of the endangered Olive Ridley Turtle in cooperation with the AMA biological association.

4. Getting Ready for University Studies

In the end, our ultimate goal is to produce top-performing graduates eagerly accepted into colleges and universities anywhere in the world. Our curriculum significantly helps to bridge the gap between the SEP program and more than meet what is required by U.S. Universities. By providing both U.S. and AP accredited courses as well as a Harkness Institute diploma, our students get significant access to unique & advanced opportunities.

The Harkness Institute is named in honor of Edward Harkness, who in 1930 funded the development of a teaching method that he described as follows:

“What I have in mind is [a classroom] where [students] could sit around a table with a teacher who would talk with them and instruct them by a sort of tutorial or conference method, where [each student] would feel encouraged to speak up. This would be a real revolution in methods.”

This educational method is used by some of the most advanced schools in the United States
and is a cornerstone of our teaching process.

And may we note:

Harkness Institute is a fully autonomous institution, independent of any other secondary school or baccalaureates. We proudly maintain close relationships with international educational establishments such as Choate Rosemary Hall, in Connecticut, ITESO and Tec de Monterrey in Mexico, Whitman College in the state of Washington, the Pingree School in Massachusetts, and Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire – the school where the Harkness method originated and is utilized to this day.